When discarded glass transforms into colourful installations

Anjali is an artist who works primarily with post-consumer glass and her challenge is to transform society’s undesirable waste into something that is meaningful and aesthetically pleasing. “Glass is magical — it breaks, bends, melts and fuses. And the challenge of working with this exquisite medium has captivated me for over 25 years now,” she says.

Anjali focuses on various glass working techniques — including kiln-formed glass, copper foiled stained glass and glass mosaic.

For Altereal — Dreaming in Glass, Anjali’s inspiration is the elements of nature. She has created a vast collection of glass pieces to depict earth, water and sky. The work is abstract and is her interpretation of the world around her and she believes the viewer can decipher their own meaning in each piece. 

“What I create are my dreams of nature in her various forms and elements. My passion for our environment has also led me to primarily use post-consumer glass like windows, bottles and mirrors. Each installation comprises thousands of tiny pieces that I’ve been collecting from various sources. These then go through a gruelling process of being cut, coloured, melted, etched, engraved and manipulated into shapes,” explains the artist.

Anjali says the more she works with glass the more she becomes aware of the possibilities that can be achieved. “It’s no doubt that glass is a difficult medium to work with. That said, reusing glass through art is one of the best ways to recycle it.”